Statement on North Carolina House Bill 2

Due to the recent passage of House Bill 2 in North Carolina, the Evergreen Oversight Board, on behalf of the Evergreen Project, has released the following statement. Our main concern is that our conference is a safe and inclusive space for all Evergreen Community members. While other organizations have cancelled their conferences in North Carolina over this matter, our conference was simply too imminent to move or cancel without significant harm to the Project and its members. Please feel free to contact the Evergreen Oversight Board if you have any questions about this statement.

Sincerely,
Grace Dunbar
Chair, Evergreen Oversight Board

Per the Evergreen Project’s Event Code of Conduct Evergreen event organizers are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. It is now important to reemphasize that commitment.

In particular, the Evergreen Oversight Board is disappointed that the North Carolina General Assembly has chosen to pass legislation that nullifies city ordinances that protect LGBT individuals from discrimination, including one such ordinance passed by the Raleigh City Council. Since the 2016 Evergreen Conference is to be held in Raleigh, the Oversight Board is taking the following steps to protect conference attendees:

We are working with the conference venue and hotels to ensure that their staff and organizations will not discriminate on the basis of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion.

Members of the Evergreen Safety Committee will be available at the conference to advocate for and assist conference attendees, including accompanying attendees to and from the conference venues.

The Evergreen Project, via its fiscal agent Software Freedom Conservancy, will refund in full registrations from individuals who feel that they can no longer safely attend the conference. We’re committed to processing refunds requested on this basis, but it will take us some time to process them. Please be patient if you request a refund.